Eknath Shinde is my boss, an ad won’t affect our personal relationship: Devendra Fadnavis
On asking who would be the chief ministerial face of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance during the Assembly elections in 2024, Fadnavis said that it will be decided by the BJP parliamentary board.
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Devendra Fadnavis at The Indian Express office in Mumbai. (Express photo by Ganesh Shirsekar) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said that he looks at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as his boss and leader of the present government and the publication of an advertisement citing a survey showing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the most popular CM among voters, ahead of Devendra Fadnavis has had no effect on their personal relationship.
Speaking at an Idea Exchange event organised at The Indian Express office on Wednesday, Fadnavis said, “There is no change in dynamics. Our relations are good from the beginning. I think that our relationship is based on mutual respect. I never allow to break his protocol. I was the CM for five years. I am a deputy CM now. He was a minister with me. It never reflects in our business. Now, he is my boss. As a Chief Minister, he is my leader and I have to work under him. It is firmly set in my mind. And fortunately, he never shows off that he is my leader or my boss. I think this has been going on with mutual respect. One ad will not damage it.”
On asking who would be the chief ministerial face of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance during the Assembly elections in 2024, Fadnavis said that it will be decided by the BJP parliamentary board.
“But the sitting Chief Minister is always the leader. Ultimately, when government faces the election, the head of the government is the head always,” he said.
Bringing the curtains down on the ongoing feud between a section of the BJP cadre and Kalyan Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde, the son of Maharashtra CM Ekanth Shinde, the deputy CM said, “Kalyan seat is with the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena will contest it.” BJP leaders in Kalyan had staked claim on the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat that is represented by Shrikant Shinde and threatened to not work for his re-election.
On the deteriorating level of politics, he said, “Politics has gone to such a level that Maharashtra has never witnessed… That is why every day at 9 am if someone is going to use bad language then that has to be answered. That keeps on running throughout the day… if they call us something, we call them something, only such news runs. The political situation that we see today is very much unlike the past. Yes, we are better than southern states but the level of communication between us is not good. It does not suit a state like Maharashtra…”
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